Stormy Monday
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1918, the late Muriel Spark, nee Camberg, had a long literary run, writing fiction and non. Her heritage is Jewish/Anglican. She taught English, worked as a secretary, and in intelligence in the latter stages of WWII. Her only marriage lasted three years. She was estranged from her son, who turned to Judaism. At first she concentrated on poetry and criticism. Her sixth novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, seems as if it will stand the test of time and has been adapted to stage and screen. A copy of the Penguin paperback of her first novel, The Comforters, published in 1957, recently came my way. It was a challenge not only because of the stark differences between UK and American use of English. The protagonist is, like Spark herself in real life, a convert to Catholicism and a writer. The woman knows she is in the novel. Several other characters are converts. Others are skeptics. One suspects another of Satanism. An elderly woman is involved in diamond smuggling. Despite all this, the final results are benign for all but one, the narrative’s most annoying figure. I understood only a bit of the wit for which Spark is renowned. No doubt her IQ is a lot higher than mine. I was relieved the novel is only 204 pages. According to the Wiki profile of the book, edited here by yours truly: “The title is taken from the Biblical story The Comforters of Job. Spark believed Comforters were really demons whose intention was to pour salt into wounds… She also drew on hallucinations she experienced while using Dexedrine to lose weight.” 156 users at Amazon have rated The Comforters, forging to a consensus of 3.9 on a scale of five. I don’t feel comfortable rating a work I didn’t really get, so I won’t. It is still selling modestly more than 50 years after its publication. In all, Spark has more than 20 novels, eight short story collections, four volumes of poetry and a host of non-fiction in print. She received many awards, including eight honorary doctorates. The London Times ranked her eighth in its list of “the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.” She passed away at 88 in 2006. Facts from Wiki, photo from Google Images:
It’s Wear a Plunger on Your Head Day. It’s especially effective after unclogging a toilet. Photo from GI:
Troubling news out of DC, headline from foxnews.com: “5 months. 5 burglaries. Another restaurant shutters as crime pushes businesses to brink in blue city.”
RIP Eric Montross, 52, who succumbed to cancer. Born in Indianaoplis, he led his high school team to the state championship in 1990. He was first team Parade magazine All-American and McDonald’s All-American in that year. The seven-footer was twice second-team All-America and Academic All-American at North Carolina and a member of the 1993 NCAA champions. He was selected in the first round of the ’94 NBA draft by the Celtics, the ninth pick overall. He played for five other teams during his eleven year career, averaging 4.5 PPG and 4.6 RPG. After retiring from pro basketball, he did color commentary for the Tar Heels and a lot of charity work. He was a dad of three. A giant of a man taken way too soon. Facts from Wiki, photo from GI:
Although the sun is shining at the moment, the floating book shop was rained out today. If it had been snow — oy!
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